1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a novel screen forming apparatus and method, and in particular to a screen forming apparatus and method for forming a water screen, on which an image or reflections are projected, in an open area on or above the water, such as the sea, a lake or a river by pumping up and spraying the water.
2. Background Art
Outdoor movie theaters are, of course, well known. In such a theater, a solid movie screen is installed in the open air and a movie is projected thereon. The screen used for the outdoor movie theater is a sheet or a board which is similar to the screen used for the indoor movie theaters. The sheet or the board screen is hung down from or expanded over a supporting structure such as a scaffold of a predetermined height and width. The conventional outdoor movie theater usually has a projection screen standing on the ground with a screen size large enough to entertain an audience with the movies.
A large supporting structure is required to hold a large screen, and considerable labor is required in assembling/disassembling such a supporting structure. Also, the conventional outdoor theater occupies a large space for both the screen and the audience since the screen requires certain construction around it, and there must therefore be some distance between the screen and the audience.
There has been a suggestion to establish an outdoor movie theater which has a screen standing on water with the audience having seats on the ground near the water. However, it is difficult to support the ordinary, large screen that is used in the indoor theaters on or above the water which may be in the form of a sea, lake, river or pool. Thus, heretofore only a small-size screen could be employed for the on-the-water-screen theater.